Title: The Gems of War
http://find.galegroup.com/gic/
-Sierra Leone officials believe they have evidence that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and its leader, Foday Sankoh, have traded illicit gems for guns for the war.
-Sankoh also traded illicit gems for heoine and cocaine, which emboldened the child warriors to fight.
-In the summer of 1999, the Lome accord was signed, which was a deal that gave Sankoh a role of government as head of a proposed commission responsible for marketing the country's diamonds.
-Attorney General Solomon Berewa shared details that proved that Sankoh logged over 2,000 diamonds mined by the RUF during the course of his ten months in government.
-These gems were never reported to authorities, therefore making them logged illegally by Sankoh.
-Now all over Africa, rebel groups fight over mining areas so that they can maraud a country's resources and pay for their weapons for the war.
-In 2000, the World Bank reported that the struggle for diamonds had taken over politics as the biggest cause for civil war globally.
Questions:
What recent activity has Fodar Sankoh been up to since 2000?
Is Sankoh still using gems to fund for guns and drugs for his rebel group?
